


Changing Fate

by Hermionechan90



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-21
Updated: 2014-01-22
Packaged: 2018-01-09 13:39:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1146638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hermionechan90/pseuds/Hermionechan90
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marianne Abbott, or was it Kenneth? Anyway, this is the story how she rendered Sybille Trelawney prophecy obsolete and along the way introduced ipods to the Wizarding world. AU, OC, Marauder-verse</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_… and Sirius squeezed her hand before they joined their friends on the Hogwarts express for their last ride home. Yes she was ready, the life after Hogwarts could come… after all she wasn’t alone._

_The End_

Slightly sniffing, Marianne blindly searched for a tissue, that last story had been absolutely spell bounding, and she hadn’t been able to move her eyes away from the screen, hell she even had cried during a few scenes.   
The young woman saved the Harry Potter fanfic as one of her favorites before she went back to her Fanfiction Account to see if another story had been updated during the time she had read this one. Incidentally her gaze landed on the computer clock and she groaned out loudly.

It was already half past one, when had it become this late?

Damn it and tomorrow she had P.E. with her class, god damn it!!! Mournfully she looked at the screen and promptly bit her lip… the time travel Naruto story had been updated... hhm oh well just that chapter and then she would go to bed, honest!

Marianne finally went to bed ten minutes to two a.m., which was not good! After all she would have to wake up again at six thirty; that left her just four and a half hours to catch some sleep before her little nine year old hellions would suck the life out of her. She loved her kids, she really did, and the third graders were more or less angels inside the classroom as long as the topic was interesting enough but twenty five energetic nine year olds and only three ten minute breaks and an hour lunch time were the recipe for mischief and mayhem and so all primary school teacher were encouraged to tire them out as much as possible which unfortunately led to Marianne being completely worn out afterwards.

The avid fanfiction reader that just went to bed was the twenty four year old Marianne Kenneth, a primary school teacher in London. She had long brownish hair which was nothing that stood out in the crowd, light blue eyes and reading glasses. Marianne was neither very pretty nor butt ugly, she was just a regular young woman like millions of others who was living her life in a big city, central London to be exact.   
Okay maybe not completely regular, the young primary school teacher had this awesome loft apartment right in the middle of London, a piece of property for which hundreds of girls would kill for. The loft was right above her landlady’s flat and had a stunning view on central London. Mrs. Hudson, the landlady… oh yeah Marianne was well aware how cliché THAT was, was in her late seventies and had a bad knee and so Marianne became used to shop for Mrs. Hudson once or twice a week. The young teacher also paid the landlady sixty percent of her income to live in this dream come true apartment but oh well everything else about her was average.

Average height, weight, hair, eyes, even her grades had been average in both school and college! So yeah her life was pretty much… average.

The only thing other than her apartment that was not average was her social life; and that was below average… even abysmal.   
Don’t misunderstand, Marianne was well liked by her co-workers and she would occasionally join them for a drink after work but beside that she had neither close friends nor family that would make up for her lack of contact. And that wasn’t because they were dead or lived somewhere on the other half of the planet and couldn’t visit her, no it was simply because her parents didn’t show any real interest in their daughter, they hadn’t since she graduated and went off to college and the friendships that she had in school and college just fell apart through the lack of contact.   
It may sound awful but to be honest Marianne had never really missed this social contact, she was perfectly fine to sit in her apartment and read on her computer, listen to music or watch a movie, all things that you could do alone.   
Same with her love life, Marianne had never fallen in love in her life. Oh sure she had some lovers in and went very infrequently on dates but that was it and just like the other social contact she didn’t crave it or at least she thought she didn’t.   
Another reason for her lack of social life was her tendency to blush and just stay quiet. She wasn’t one that drew attention to herself, she liked to stay in the background and observe. It was even a wonder that she became a teacher in the first place, the only reason why she even considered it was because her love for children was bigger than her shyness. Additionally to that she had wanted to be independent as fast as possible, her parents had long since lost their interest in what happened in her life and Marianne only wanted to finally leave and start her own life away from the apathy.

Suffice to say that Marianne was completely exhausted and ready to call it a day after she let her students go at three p.m. the twenty four year old dragged herself into her small second-hand city car and made a quick shopping run because she knew that she was fresh out everything before making her way home. The brunette sighed frustrated as she circled around the block for the third time, finding a parking space was always a catastrophe in that neighborhood, when she finally found a free nook she ignored the annoyed honking noises of the cars behind her and took her time until the car was pressed against the curbstone.

With a more than tired sigh Marianne hauled the bags into the old building.

Mrs. Hudson was already waiting at the front door, the old lady must have seen her walking up while she was watching the neighbors again. The grey haired rotund lady gave her the run down on the neighborhood gossip while Marianne helped her with the groceries before she warned her of the upcoming storm the weather forecast had predicted.

With some absent platitudes Marianne said goodbye to her landlady before she dragged herself up into her own home. The primary school teacher had next to no energy left and so only put away the things that needed to be cooled before carelessly disrobing and changing into comfortable sleeping clothes. The brunette ignored the homework assignment that she would have to correct until the end of the week, she would do it the next day. With another deep sigh Marianne dropped onto her couch and switched on the TV while outside her windows the storm picked up. The young woman fell asleep quarter to nine in front of her TV on the first Tuesday of October 2012.

When she woke up she was somewhere completely different.


	2. Chapter 2

The minute she woke up Marianne knew something was strange.

At first she didn’t opened her eyes but furrowed her eyebrows while she thought about the reason she was feeling so confused before it came to her, she was too comfortable. After all her last memory of the night before had been the Intro of the CSI: Miami series and that meant that she should have woken up with back pain and cold feet… she always had back pain and cold feet after falling asleep on the bargain deal couch that had been part of her furniture since her college days. Instead she woke up feeling warm and comfortably nestled inside thick blankets, strange even her queen sized bed that stood in the left back corner of her loft normally didn’t feel this divine.

When she finally opened her eyes she could practically feel her heart stuttering for a moment before it started to beat twice as fast as before, she was lying in an unfamiliar four-poster bed with a light blue cloth ceiling.

What the HELL???

With a jarring movement Marianne sat up in the queen sized bed and moved her head frantically from one side to the other while taking in the foreign room around her.

Where the hell was she and what had happened the night before?

Before Marianne could work herself into a full-fledged panic attack a sudden loud crack on the other side of the room caught her attention. The sound nearly caused the young woman to fall out of bed, thankfully she could prevent that painful experience through grabbing the wooden poster closest to her and so stop the fall.

‘Safe!’ Was the only thought that raced through her mind for a second, before her mind returned to her current situation and she anxiously searched the more than generously sized room for the origin of the sound.

“Young Mistress is awake, is Mistress wanting Trilly to make breakfast?” the houseelf, HOUSEELF beside her bed asked timidly.

Marianne felt flabbergasted for a second before all the tension fell off of her and she nearly laughed in relief, she was still dreaming.

With a mental shoulder shrug she cleared her throat and said, “Yes please, but could I have it delivered to my room please, I don’t feel too well today.”

“Oh no, should Trilly call the healer? Is Mistress needing anything? Oh of course Mistress is needing breakfast! Bad Trilly!” the clearly female houseelf said while she wringed her hands.

To prevent the strange dream figure from calling an imaginary healer Marianne said awkwardly, “Eh, no I don’t think I a healer is necessary, I will just rest today.”

“As young Mistress wishes!” Trilly said before the houseelf vanished with a loud plop.

Leaning back Marianne sucked in a deep breath before slowly releasing the air from her lungs. Okay… she had no idea how this happened but she was in some weird Harry Potter fantasy that her unconsciousness had apparently dreamed up. Wryly she shook her head, maybe this was a sign that she was reading too much fanfics. But one thing was sure, when this whole thing was over Marianne would wake up on her couch with back pain and cold feet and would laugh at her overactive imagination.

‘Oh well since I’m here, why not enjoy this?’ was Marianne’s next thought, who was she to protest if her imagination sent her here?

With a slowly widening grin the primary school teacher laid back and relaxed while she waited for Trilly to bring her breakfast. With her nerves calmed down Marianne’s eyes wandered over the furniture of her room. There were two doors side by side across from her, a desk in front of the window front of her left as well as a bookshelf that covered a big part of the wall across from her. Huh, apparently the persona she had dreamed herself into was a bookworm.   
Marianne’s gaze wandered further but what drew her immediate attention was the book on her bedside table, grinning she took it into her hands and opened it curiously. It was a potion text and while Marianne leaved through it her brain felt somewhat strange, as if she had read the pages once before and now was slowly remembering what she had read. When the young woman caught herself thinking about the potions essay that she would have to write for her summer work, she froze in her movements and furrowed her brow, were dreams always this elaborate?

Her musings were interrupted when Trilly reappeared with a tray on which she found a full continental breakfast with a side of eggs and bacon. Hungrily Marianne ate the delicious meal. Okay this had to be a dream, she thought, after all she had never tasted anything this delicious before in her life. When she was finished the dishes and tray vanished in seconds.

‘Just like every morning.’ Marianne thought absently before she froze once more. Okay wait, just like every morning??? Feeling a bit freaked out Marianne concentrated on herself and her own thoughts.

What’s my name? Marianne.  
How old am I? Twenty four; fourteen… Huh?   
What am I? Primary school teacher; witch, Hogwarts student…

For a moment Marianne could only gape while her thoughts jumped from place to place, what the hell? Yes she loved fanfictions and liked to fantasize about the different characters, even the OC’s and SI’s that other writers had created but she herself had never felt the urge to create an Self Insert story or give an OC her characteristics!!! She was leaving that to the more talented writers on the website, so what the hell was her subconsciousness telling her?

After a moment of confused panic Marianne calmed herself down again, after all this was a dream, no matter what her subconsciousness was cooking up, she would wake up again and leave this dream world behind.

‘Huh my imagination must be stronger and a lot more vivid than I thought… thought it DOES kind of make sense that my mind made my dream self younger, after all a twenty four year old can’t go to Hogwarts!’ Marianne mused to herself before shrugging with her shoulders, this wouldn’t change the fact that she would wake up sometime soon, so she better made the most of it while it lasted.

Having reassured herself the young woman in a teenager’s body explored more of the persona that she was in this dreamscape. After she had concentrated a bit she could even see her dreamscape family in front of her inner eye. They consisted out of a brother that was four years older and a father as well as some distant relatives, her mother was deceased. Oh and apparently she was a Hufflepuff.

With her curiosity somewhat satisfied, Marianne climbed out of bed to explore a little bit. Her first few steps were unstable but then she got the hang of this body and opened the closest door across from her. It led into a nice sized bath with a tub, shower and basin combo, in a brilliant white color with gold appliances; the floor was covered with a thick beige carpet and to the side stood two matching cupboards. Finding nothing else interesting Marianne turned around and opened the door right beside the bathroom. Now THIS was a lot more interesting than the first room, excited Marianne wandered into the walk in closet. Fascinated the blue eyed female let her hands glide through the high quality clothes that had been the first sliding door that she had opened. There were some very pretty dresses between them, even if they looked a lot more conservative than Marianne used to see in the boutiques around London. Turning around the teacher caught a glimpse of the shoe rack on the other side of the room, with some quick steps she made her way closer to her new target when something in the floor length mirror on her right side let her come to an abrupt halt.

Disbelieving Marianne let her hands glide through her hair, that shouldn’t be possible… a closer look on her whole appearance nearly caused Marianne to stumble… this was REALLY strange.

In the mirror across from her stood a teenager with long blonde hair and for her age large breasts… was that a B-Cup?

Now while this would have raised an eyebrow or two Marianne would have probably shrugged it off as her low self esteem using a stereotype to make herself more appealing. The problem was something different… it was the fact that said blonde with large breasts also had belly rolls which kind of drew the attention to somewhere else.   
And Marianne didn’t mean the cute kind that someone could coo over, no she had about twenty to twenty five pounds more than what was healthy, which was a LOT for a girl her age additionally to that her face was also slightly pudgy.

Unsure what to think of this quite strange flaw in her dreamscape body Marianne picked out one of the summer dresses hanging in the closet. Her brain provided automatically that apparently it was one of her favorites. Back in the bathroom Marianne took the time to carefully brush her now hip long blonde hair before she deemed herself done and ready to explore this dream.

Marianne took two energetic steps to the door before she hesitated at the door handle and bit her lip, unsure she threw a glance around her room before calling hesitantly for Trilly.

“What can Trilly do for young Mistress?”

“Are my father and Michael home?”

“No Mistress. Master Thomas is at work and young Master Michael told Trilly, young Master Michael is seeing his friends.”

“Thank you Trilly, you can go.”

Trilly curtsied and popped away again.

Looking at the spot where Trilly had vanished Marianne felt strangely relieved that she wouldn’t meet her dream family quite yet and had time to explore the house. It was a townhouse in central London, central magical London to be exact and it was like most magical homes enlarged on the inside. The ground floor contained a foyer with a generous staircase that led through the whole house, a dining room on the left that could be enlarged through opening the sliding doors that parted it from the sitting room next door. The kitchens and the library were situated on the right side. On the first floor were two guest rooms on the left side of the house while the right side had been converted into a Winter garden and the study of Thomas Abbott. The second and final floor contained the bedrooms of the family as well as one extra room that hadn’t been used for nearly a decade, it once had been the private sitting room of Zara Abbott, Marianne’s mother.

While flittering from one room to the next Marianne was hit again and again with new memories of her dream counterpart. The longer she wandered around, the more disturbed and inattentive she became, Marianne was feeling unsettled by the exquisite pieces of furniture, everything was so detailed and had the appropriate textures nothing looked burry or strange like you would expect in a dream. Even her flash back memories of this dream persona were unbelievingly realistic; hell the dream Marianne even had food preferences and school grades!

And as the day went by things just got weirder and weirder, she remembered a childhood in these halls and how it got lonely after her mother died when the blonde witch was nine years old. Strange.  
The character traits were pretty much the same, both Mariannes were shy and socially awkward, had a good but distant relationship to their co-workers, fellow students. But while the older Marianne was certain about her parents’ disinterest in her life, the witch’s father loved her. Thomas Abbott just didn’t really know what to do with a girl and so she had been raised mostly by the houseelves, who completely adored her and didn’t force her to come out of her shell while her father concentrated more on the outgoing son that would be family head after him.

Dinner that evening just happened like it apparently always did and neither Thomas nor Michael seemed to find anything strange in her behavior. The evening progressed and when it became time for bed Marianne was convinced that she would wake up back in her loft apartment on her couch with backache and cold feet.

But that never happened.

Marianne woke up again and again and again in this four poster bed until she had to admit defeat. Why wasn’t she waking up? And why did everything feel so real? Marianne wasn’t sure how to deal with this, after all this couldn’t be real; she couldn’t have landed in the Harry Potter world! There was just no way! And even if she had, what would have been the catalyst for that? In nearly every fanfiction she had ever read was a REASON for why that person landed in this or that body, so what the hell???

The adult in a teen’s body was so engrossed in her thoughts that she missed the next step and was suddenly tumbling down the stair case. Coming to an abrupt halt on the landing of the staircase she felt immensely dizzy and of kilter when she heard somebody shout surprised from bellow her. And then Michael was suddenly kneeling in front of her, his form slightly blurry.

In surprise Marianne jerked a bit and then whined slightly before she let out a miserable, “Ouch.”.

The primary school teacher in a witch’s body felt how the young adult wizard by her side cautiously grabbed her shoulders and legs and lifted her into his arms, in spite of her extra weight. The next thing she clearly remembered was that her surrounding suddenly changed, to counter the feeling of vertigo Marianne burrowed her face in Michael’s neck and only looked up again when he sat her down on a flat surface. She was now in a white room and somebody beside her brother held a wand to her head and whatever that person was doing, it STUNG.

Surprised she cried out a bit, in response Michael grabbed her hand and gently shushed her. In the next moment he and his surroundings weren’t blurry anymore.

“Are you okay Marianne?” her elder brother asked worriedly.

“Head hurts.” she mumbled, Merlin she was tired.

“No wonder, you tumbled down the stairs and now have a strong concussion. I have reversed most effects but you will have a splitting headache for another hour before you can take this potion. I recommend you rest and don’t do anything for the rest of the day!” the grey haired wizard beside her brother told her.

The … healer wasn’t even finished with talking when the door opened behind them and her worried father entered the room. The grey haired wizard answered patiently the apprehensive questions of her father while Michael continued to fuss over her. Marianne hadn’t expected this kind of concerned affection from both of them, in the last few days they had appeared more often oblivious to Marianne’s presence than not.   
After her father stopped asking question of possible consequences of this injury Marianne was released into the care of her brother, Thomas Abbott had to return to his work after all, though not before he drew her into a cautious hug and gently kissed her forehead. Marianne couldn’t help but lean into his embraces, she felt strangely safe.  
After returning to the Abbott town house Michael kept hovering around her for some time before he left her to sleep and recover from her fall.

When she was finally alone the twenty four year old woman in a young witches body wasn’t sure how to handle what had happened today. The fall, the pain, the concussion… everything felt so real. If this was her dream couldn’t she have influenced the situation so that she DIDN’T fall? Was it really a dream? And if not what was it then?

Marianne couldn’t quite make herself go further down that road but one thing was stuck in her thought… she could get hurt here and probably even die if she did something stupid… and if she had really bad luck it would even be permanent.


	3. Chapter 3

When Marianne opened her eyes again and found herself back in the Abbott townhouse she finally admitted defeat. Wherever she now was, dreamscape or in the really existing Harry Potter Universe it didn’t look like she was going anywhere, at least not anytime soon.

Somewhat apathetic she considered the different possibilities. It couldn’t be a normal dream, no matter how fantastic her imagination was, this had been going on for too long, she would have sure woken up some time ago if it had been a regular dream. Either she was in a strange kind of coma and was dreaming the whole thing while her body vegetated away in a hospital or… and now came the absurd option… she really had somehow landed in the body of the witch Marianne Abbott in the Harry Potter Universe.

Sighing deeply Marianne thoughtlessly counted the books in her bookcase while her mind wandered to her ‘real’ life. She was kind of curious, would anyone miss her if she had just suddenly vanished into thin air? Were her parents maybe even grieving because of her disappearance? How had her students taken it? And her coworkers? Who would now bring Mrs. Hudson her groceries?

The questions made her somehow sad because none of them could be answered with relatively certainty or with socially acceptable answers. Because who of her estranged friends and distant colleagues would really miss her? She hadn’t seen them in such a long time that they probably only had a vague sense of whose funeral they were attending. Her parents, as cold as it sounded were probably only going through the socially acceptable motions of grieving before returning to their normal day to day life, they were not bad people, just uninterested and not emotionally invested in her. Her kids would probably get used to a new teacher pretty fast and then forget about her… And Mrs. Hudson, well she would have to search for a new tenant that would bring her her food.

Wow that were some depressing thoughts but nonetheless true.

To distract herself Marianne thought about this… life? … imagination? She was now stuck in. She had to admit that she liked the scenario a bit too much for her taste… or more it was her subconsciousness that was telling her that the situation and set up was too perfect and that she easily could get lost in living this life and in the end forget about the ‘real’ world.   
But then again, what else could she do when her body just didn’t wake up in the ‘real’ world? Sit around and angst? Or try magical rituals that probably would go horribly wrong? Marianne really didn’t feel inclined to try to get back to a world she was so apathetic to, not when she had the chance to explore one of her favorite Worlds in a new body and identity.

Slowly sitting up the now blonde rubbed her sleepy eyes and stretched a bit, she still had a slight headache from the day before but was feeling okay otherwise. So what was she going to do now? Live this life until it she died or was called back in the ‘real’ world or going through the motions here until something different happened?...

To hell with it, she was going to enjoy this no matter how long it lasted.

With a decisive nod Marianne climbed out of bed and made her way over to her wardrobe to get dressed for the day. It was time to learn more about her witch self and then do something about the slightly overweight body.

As if a dam had broken memories and impressions of her ‘witch life’ poured into the forefront of her mind throughout the whole day and increased the already annoying headache.

Her name was Marianne Zara Abbott and she had been born on the 12th of June 1961 in St. Mungo’s to Lady Zara Abbott nee Miller and Lord Thomas Marius Abbott as their second child and only daughter.

The Abbott family belonged to the so called Sacred Twenty-Eight pureblood families of Britain according to the author of the Pure-Blood-Directory and belonged to the Neutral families.

They were not wealthy in the sense of large spending capital but they had quite the impressive collection of properties all over Britain and even Europe that secured their place in the British High Society and made them reasonable marriage candidates for the ultra rich of their society.

Under their properties was a house in the much coveted community of Godric’s Hollow as well as their ancestral home that was located in Essex and had an impressive 50 plus rooms. Additionally they had a few more cottages and chalets distributed over England and Europe that were currently empty or rented out to other wizarding families.

Despite or even because of their wealth in impressive properties the current family lived in a medium sized townhouse in magical London, two blocks down from the Leaky Cauldron.   
This had two very practical reasons, firstly because of their lack of large spending capital and the bad management of the last few generations the Abbotts had lost quite a bit in capital and so the current head, Marianne’s father, had decided to keep the household more affordable for the small family. The second reason stemmed from the fact that Lord Thomas Abbott was a skilled potion master who worked in spite of his status as family patriarch for St. Mungos as a brewer, a house in London was a lot more convenient for him.

Her other parent, Zara Abbott nee Miller had been a muggleborn witch who had had met Marianne’s father through their work, she had been one of the foremost potion researchers in St. Mungos until her death when Marianne was just nine years old. The Lady Abbott had lost her life during a brewing accident, leaving behind a devastated family.

After her mother’s death the young witch had been raised mostly by the house elves while receiving a typical Neutral pureblood education and so although her mother had been a muggleborn Marianne had grown up without any real knowledge of the muggle world. Well until now.

The last member of her immediate family was Michael Thomas Abbott, her eighteen year old older brother. Michael was a former Ravenclaw who had just graduated from Hogwarts and would now start his career in the ministry on the second of August in the department of International Magical Cooperation. Thanks to his status as Abbott, a known and wealthy Wizarding family that had been working for generations in the Ministry, Michael hadn’t had any problems acquiring a job despite his halfblood status.   
From what Marianne had heard from whispered conversations in the Hogwarts corridors others weren’t so lucky. Since the threat of Voldemort and his followers had started to become more tangible a lot of restrictive rules and laws had been passed and a lot of Michael’s former schoolmates had problems finding jobs.

XXXXXX

The first thing that really surprised Marianne about her new life was the time frame she was existing in now, she hadn’t landed somewhere in the book time frame, oh no it was the 16th July 1976.   
She had landed in the ‘Marauder era’ as most fanfic addicts called the timeframe between 1971 and 1978. James Potter and co should be around sixteen at the moment, Marianne couldn’t help but let her thoughts wander to the many yummy fanarts of the Marauders she had found in the internet and blushed, being introverted and shy around people didn’t mean that she wasn’t a pervert. Marianne was quite excited about this turn of events, meeting these people and comparing them to the characters of the Rowling books was going to be very interesting!

After calming somewhat down Marianne tried to recall everything she knew about the Harry Potter timeline. To put the whole thing in perspective she wrote it down on a piece of parchment. This was shortly followed by all the information she remembered about the characters in the book series. While writing Marianne noticed that once again the memories of the other witch came forth when she concentrated on a certain persona.

 **James Potter:**   
born in 1960, Harry’s father, Quidditch captain, loves Lily Evans, glasses, brown hair, brown eyes, Marauder, Animagus, likes pranks, part of the Order.  
 _James Charlus Potter, likes Yorkshire Pudding, abhors red currants, plays chaser, Transfiguration prodigy, builds every year with Sirius Black a snow castle, could have ten girls on every finger but always rejects them, has a soft spot for first years, keeps Sirius in check from going overboard in his pranks on the younger years._

Staring at the piece of parchment Marianne let out a deep sigh while she leaned back in relief, she got the body as well as the memories and if she wasn’t completely wrong the attached emotions to said memories, which was kind of important if she wanted to take over Marianne’s life and avoid attracting unwanted attention.

In a good mood Marianne joined Michael for breakfast in the winter garden where she listened to him talk about the surprise he had planned for his girlfriend before she continued her work. When she finally stopped in the evening she had filled a notebook with information about the people in the Wizarding world. Marianne had barely looked up from her writing during that time and had distractedly eaten the sandwiches Trilly had brought her. The young female houseelf was still relatively young and had been given to Marianne for her eleventh birthday as a personal houseelf.

Stretching languidly the blonde witch’s gaze fell on her thick thighs and belly roles; with a curious finger she poked the soft tissue. In her life as muggle she hadn’t had to fight with extra weight, she hadn’t been very thin but her body also hadn’t gain fat easily. Standing up and front of the floor length mirror in her closest Marianne took a closer look at her body. She didn’t look awful… just pudgy and slightly round… though the blonde girl had to acquiesce that her face now was certainly prettier than the one she had possessed as muggle, the storm grey eyes weren’t a bad upgrade either. Looking at her side profile once more Marianne couldn’t help but poke the biggest belly roll again, okay it wasn’t that bad but she could certainly loose a bit of weight. With a determined mind the young Abbott summoned Trill again, once the little houseelf came to a halt in front of her Marianne told the magical creature about her intention to lose weight and while Trilly at first burst out into tears because of some kind of imagined failure of her person she quickly agreed to make adjustments to Marianne’s diet. With a personal chef that would make sure that she didn’t eat the wrong things Marianne should be able to make a significant dent into her fat deposits throughout the summer. Having taken this step Marianne turned to her mind to what she perceived as the biggest problem.

Voldemort… and Dumbledore in some way too now that she thought about it.

The thought of Voldemort being active during her school time made Marianne more than a bit uneasy, and while this was partly because the Wizarding world would suffer strongly under him and a lot of innocent people would die it was mostly because she was born a frickin’ halfblood in this scenario and had no idea when and where he was going to attack. Now don’t get her wrong she found the whole blood purity thing ridiculous but the fact that her mother had been a muggleborn automatically moved her up on the hit list of those bigots… and hadn’t the Abbott family been attacked during Voldemort’s first reign of terror? Just great.

Now the actual question was should she attempt to change anything? What if those changes would make the future even worse? Or got people she liked killed? Marianne wasn’t sure if she wanted to take that risk even if it later turned out to be a dream. But one thing was for certain, she would never EVER give Dumbledore even a HINT that she knew more than the average Hogwarts student. Marianne was pretty sure that Dumbledore wasn’t evil or had fun manipulating people but the books had made her painfully aware of the fact that he wasn’t as infallible as most wizards liked to think.

So yeah, no info for the Bumblebee, he probably would just keep it to himself and do nothing or very little.

Still the situation was bugging her but with only a few days experience in this new body Marianne hadn’t had enough information to make an informed decision. J.K. Rowling had never really elaborated about the first war other than ‘it was a dark time’ and the witch Marianne had been like any other normal teenager of that age been oblivious to politics and had only picked up on the slightly frightened undertone people were whispering about the new Dark Lord but this still felt somewhat abstract to her, after all she had never witnessed an attack before. So for the moment she gave up on the topic and turned to her muggle roots.

As witch that was raised like a pureblood she was expected to be …. uninformed to a certain, nearly painful degree about the muggle world. And so she really couldn’t afford to let anything slip because people would be naturally curious about her sudden knowledge. Marianne desperately thought about a way to cover this up when it hit her… she was kind of stupid panicking like that. She would simply use the summer to explore muggle London, after all she would have to get used to the current kind of technology anyway.

**Thomas Interlude**

To say that Thomas Abbott wasn’t thrilled with her decision to explore the muggle world was probably an understatement. The pureblood knew the bare minimum of the world his wife had been born in and that also only because he had loved Zara and had made some effort during the time he had been courting her in the middle of the 1950’s. London at that time had been chaotic and filled with for him scandalously dressed women.   
That his only daughter now wanted to explore muggle London and that alone! wasn’t doing anything for his nerves. In the end though he reluctantly acquiesced, Marianne didn’t ask him often for something, that she was persistent this time around let him finally agree. Though the permission came with certain rules, Marianne was to be at home no later than five p.m. and to stay in the populated areas close to the Wizarding streets. Thomas only hoped that she wouldn’t become too fascinated with the non magical world like that strange Arthur Weasley that worked in the ministry, or worse fall in love with a muggle!  
Thomas Abbott didn’t hate the muggles per se but he also didn’t think that wizards should mix with them too much. He still could remember how devastated his wife had been when her parents had decided to break off any and all contact with their youngest daughter when she married him, a wizard instead of a so called respectable muggle.


	4. Chapter 4

When her father than handed her a hundred pounds spending money on the next morning with the promise to convert more on a later date Marianne was kind of flabbergasted which she could barely hide, Thomas Abbott had clearly no idea how much money he had just given her… or maybe he did and it was normal for somebody of their wealth. It didn’t really matter in the end but from what she could remember from her history lessons in college a hundred pounds were nearly nine times as much worth in 1975 than in 2012. Her father had just handed her 900£ worth of money.

To blend better in Marianne wore the clothes that were the most suited for moving in the non magical world, she was just glad that her father wasn’t home anymore and she wore a cloak over her summer dress, for a witch she was nearly scandalously dressed for a public outing.

Her brother escorted her to the entrance before asking worriedly, “Are you sure you want to do this… alone? I mean I could accompany you on my days off.”

“I’m sure Michael, you will have a lot to do in your new job and I don’t want to be a burden. Also I think I need to do this alone.” Her answer wasn’t stuttered but it was still a bit awkward and Marianne couldn’t look him in the face, she had never been good at lying.

With a sigh and a quick hug Michael apparated to the ministry.

Finally alone Marianne looked around before she removed the traveling cloak from her shoulders and stored it in the bottomless handbag that had been a birthday present from her brother. With quick steps she slipped through the barrier and out through the small flower shop into a side street of Charring Cross Road.

The moment she entered one of the main streets Marianne felt overwhelmed, in 2012 there might have been more traffic but it was a lot less chaotic than right now. Everywhere people were moving in and out of shops. The young men wore their hair mostly long along with sunglasses and jeans. The fashion of the women were a bit more varied but Marianne saw everything from high waist jeans over hippie dress to conservative ankle long skirt. The light blue summer dress that stopped halfway up her calves fit it surprisingly well in muggle London.   
The first two hours the young witch spent familiarizing herself with her environment, in the last forty years a lot had changed in her home city. Finished with her small sightseeing tour Marianne visited different book stores and picked up various books on technology and history of the muggle world so that she could explain her sudden knowledge away if somebody asked.

Shortly before her curfew she found a music store close to the entrance of the Leaky Cauldron, in the window she saw a guitar and had the sudden need to buy it. Marianne had always loved to play the guitar during her time in college but after finishing her education and the begin of her teaching career she had little to no opportunity to use it. Most of the time she had just used the radio or CD player when she sang with her kids, her voice had never been the best but with two dozen child voices and another singer in the background it was easy to hide a few off keys. Marianne hesitated only for a moment longer before buying it, maybe now she could use the instrument again.

Arriving back home Marianne for the first time since arriving spoke without having to be prompted, she described the streets and different shops she had seen before changing to the big monuments of London and the different machines that she had encountered. Marianne had to concentrate not to let too much slip but somehow managed, she noticed that both her brother and father gave her indulgent gazes and small smiles thought most of what she said went over their heads. The blonde haired witch could tell that her father wasn’t very happy with her excitement but tired to hold himself back. Deciding not to push her luck she quickly changed the topic to the newest potion discoveries that had been published in Potioneer Monthly the month before.

While carefully listening to her family’s debate Marianne noticed quite startled that she not only the potion her father and brother were discussing but also had ideas for additional experiments. She was suddenly swamped with memories of herself working diligently on potions and writing down the steps that she had changed and why. Until now the witch had clearly been too shy to voice any of this in front of her family. Marianne tentatively threw in her … own, well the other Marianne’s opinion about some of the ingredients and waited for a reaction of the males across and beside her. Both halted a bit in their conversation before Thomas with some gentle questions encouraged her to participate in the discussion. At first Marianne had to really concentrate on thinking about the topic before her mind gave her an answer to the question but the longer she occupied herself with the topic the easier it became until she realized that it was HER that was answering the question and she didn’t take the answers from memories of the other Marianne, it was as if the knowledge of both of them had fused together.

After making her way up into the room Marianne sat down cross legged on her bed and tentatively pulled on the strings and listened to the familiar tunes. Her hands and fingers were still unused to the different grips and movements but after an hour or two of practicing she was able to play two of her favorite melodies without mistakes. Afterwards her hands hurt but Marianne thought it well worth it and went to bed with a smile.  
The following day the blonde witch bought herself some song books and after contemplation also one of those ‘how to’ books for playing the guitar. Marianne was determined to refresh her memory of playing and maybe even get some real proficiency now that she was once again a teenager.

And wasn’t that daunting? The moment Marianne had realized that she would have to go through all the silly mood swings, hormone changes and social interactions again she had more than slightly despaired, additionally this time around she was in a pretty precarious position as halfblood witch with a brewing civil war about blood purity on the horizon.

XXXXXXX

Looking back the summer holidays went by faster than Marianne had hoped. She had used the time to not only practice her guitar play but also to revision her school materials. Just as she had hoped the more she had immersed herself in the materia the easier it came to her as if she had learned it herself some time ago and was now only refreshing it. Especially Runes fascinated Marianne immensely, it was more like a secret language that only a handful of people understood then anything else, it also helped that it was one of the witch’s favorite subjects at Hogwarts and it reminded Marianne a bit off computer code, you wrote down what you wanted in a specific way and magic complied after you powered it up.

Aside from studying Marianne explored London mostly by foot and Underground, the long and extended and most importantly regular walks brought slow but steady results concerning her overweight. In the middle of August she was noticing how the dresses that had fit her quite well in the beginning of July had now become lose, Marianne had Trilly take in the dress until it fit her once more. The blonde witch also noticed how her face slimmed up a bit, additionally to her weight loss Marianne grew two or three centimeters over the summer which stretched her body further.

**Michael Interlude**

The fact that his little, awkward fourteen year old sister was changing into a young woman was driven home when one day Michael looked up to answer her question about a certain potion text and was confronted with her developing body.

Merlin, were that breasts? And since when was her waist so slim?? When the hell had this happened??? She hadn’t looked like this at the beginning of the summer!!!!

The elder Abbott had stared horrified at his confused younger sister and had then promptly been unable to look into her eyes for the rest of the week. With the innocent question still unanswered.

After a week of denial and procrastinating Michael Thomas Abbott finally found himself confronted with the fact that his younger sister had entered puberty and would soon be interested in boys… and he wasn’t at Hogwarts anymore to prevent anything from happening… the horrifying realization turned him pale white before his mind turned to all the womanizers in Hogwarts…

**Cornelia Interlude**

Cornelia Higgins was a seventeen year old pureblood witch that had been sorted into Ravenclaw. She was intelligent, pretty and magical above average. Her family had high hopes to receive a profitable marriage offer for her that would strengthen the family, that’s why they were more than a bit miffed about her long term relationship with Michael Abbott that had already lasted for two years. Her family hadn’t given her an ultimatum yet but Cornelia knew that it was coming closer and closer and that she then would have to decide between her family and Michael. She really wasn’t looking forward to that.

To keep the peace at home Cornelia met up in secret with Michael, this wasn’t of course the most proper solution for the young witch and could potentially harm her reputation but both her and Michael had always been careful to keep their dates in semi public settings.

She was getting a bit worried when her boyfriend was already five minutes late, Michael had never stood her up before, could have something have happened? So when she saw him arrive at the park they had agreed to and his face had a slightly greenish color she was already thinking the worst.

Concerned she touched his arm and asked “Did something happen?”

The wizard beside her just shook his head in a helpless motion before his shoulders sagged and he mumbled out “Marianne… breasts.”

It took Cornelia a second before she understood what he had said before she promptly rolled her eyes skywards. Men!

XXXXXX

And so it came that Cornelia took Marianne shopping two weeks before the new school year started. Michael’s girlfriend had one day stood in front of their door and then had friendly but firmly dragged the younger witch into the Wizarding shopping district.

Marianne wasn’t feeling too averse to the kidnapping; she had lost a bit over fifteen pounds over the summer and felt quite accomplished and thought that buying new clothes was the right kind of reward. She would never be rail thin like those supermodel types but that didn’t really bother her that much after all Marianne enjoyed EATING and she still could remember quite vividly what those girls put themselves through to stay in the business and THAT she was definitely not doing to herself!

During their shopping trip the elder witch explained patiently to Marianne the different kinds of underwear as well as what things to wear at which occasion. Marianne couldn’t help herself, she was blushing at least half of the time Cornelia was talking about undergarments, it was not that she didn’t already knew about how to select the right kind of bra but having a virtual stranger explain that to her was all kinds of mortifying. Though when Cornelia later on showed her how to recognize which clothes had the better quality as well as gave her some sound advice concerning the color scheme of her robes she couldn’t help but be grateful for the information, it would have been impossible to ask her brother or even her father about such things.   
At Twilfit and Tattings the blonde witch bought herself some nice robes, skirts and dresses because as much as she would love to wear jeans and t-shirt during the weekend, the Wizarding world was very conservative concerning clothes and at least twenty years behind Muggles in fashion at any time. Marianne was only glad that she had no problems with the current fashion and even found some of the clothes more comfortable then what she had worn as muggle.  
Shortly before they were finished the Higgins witch also slipped a discreet parchment with all kinds of useful spells concerning the period, cramping and even contraception into her shopping bag with an open invitation to come to her if she had any questions.

This time it was Marianne who couldn’t look her older brother in the eyes, she hid in pure mortification for nearly a whole week before she made her way once more into Diagon Alley to pick up her school supplies and have her uniform adjusted at Malkin’s.

At Madame Malkin’s Marianne had a run in with one of her fellow Hufflepuffs.   
Katherine Macmillan or Kate for short had not recognized her at first but after she finally did Kate had complimented her for the loss of weight and the two ended up talking about their holidays while they made their way through Diagon Ally. The fellow blonde witch had always been nice to Marianne even when they hadn’t been very close. During their conversation about the holidays Marianne learned that her house mate had spent her time with her family in Sweden where they had relatives. Marianne enjoyed the relaxed small talk and the two only split up at Flourish and Blott’s because Kate’s brothers was waiting there for her.

Marianne spend the rest of the day window shopping and picking up small gadgets for her room before she made her way back to the Leaky Cauldron where Michael had promised to pick her up. Their family had a dinner reservation in one of the more high priced restaurants to celebrate the end of the summer just like the years before.

Marianne was only a few meters away from the entrance to the Leaky cauldron when she was confronted with the sight of James Potter and Sirius Black. The two Marauders were joking and laughing behind what she recognized as the Potter seniors, who shook their heads indulgently while they made their way down the street. Marianne came to a somewhat abrupt stop in front of a knick knack shop and acted as if she was interested in something in the shop window. Her hair had fallen in front of her face like a curtain and so prevented the two Gryffindors from seeing her red cheeks and shy glances.   
Inside Marianne was squealing and jumping around, she had just encountered the MARAUDERS!!! After Prongs and Padfoot had passed her, Marianne hastily took the last steps and entered the Leaky Cauldron.

She still had slightly red cheeks and a dazed expression when she came to a stop in front of Michael, thankfully her older brother didn’t seem to notice her absentminded state. Only five minutes later they were joined by their father and the three had a nice lunch in the _Gypsy_ , an upper class café house before making their way home.

On the next day it was only Michael who accompanied her to the train station their father had a shift in St. Mungos and couldn’t get out of it. A quick hug and goodbye later, the fourteen year old Marianne sat in the Hogwarts express in direction of Scotland.


	5. Chapter 5

While walking through the train in search of an empty compartment Marianne met Kate again and the two joined another group of Hufflepuffs in one compartment close to the middle. The batchers chatted about their holidays and the newest gadgets that had come out before playing some rounds of exploding snap. The game had been invented only four years prior and was a giant hit with the Hogwarts population. All in all it was a fun and cheerful train ride.

When the train conductor announced that they would arrive in a few minutes Marianne’s heart began to beat loudly, this was it, she was going to HOGWARTS!!!

She was giddy with excitement and nearly bounced the whole way from the train to the carriage. Kate and the other two Hufflepuffs watched her amused and became infected by her good mood. The drive up to the castle through the dark woods and then over the bridge was over pretty quick and Marianne had stayed mostly silent during it to not burst out in adoring oh’s and ah’s, that would have been more than strange for somebody who had taken this trip already a few time. Still Marianne enjoyed the view out of the window and was really looking forward to explore the grounds in daylight.

At the next turn of the path the blonde witch than had a full view on the brightly lit castle in front of her, her heart stuttered a bit while she breathlessly took in the massive stone walls and high towers… Hogwarts was breathtaking… there were just no other words for it, in that moment Marianne finally let go of her last doubts…

This was her life now… and she would make the best out of it!

Still slightly stunned Marianne relied on Kate to lead her through the double door entrance to the Great Hall and to their place at the Hufflepuff table. Marianne was only shaken out of her trance like state when Kate asked her concerned if everything was alright. A quick smile into the other blondes’ direction and a misleading sentence about a headache and being tired rectified the situation.   
The rest of the evening Marianne enjoyed the feast and the cheerful chatter around her, first in the Great Hall and than in the common room and the dorm room. The young Abbott was filled with warm contentment, she loved the giant round room with the yellow and grey plush chairs and the wooden tables and chairs scattered all over the room, the many plants all over the place helped her relax even further.

Hufflepuff was really the most welcoming house of all of them.

After changing into her pajamas Marianne fell asleep very quickly and dreamed about dogs, red eyed snakes and cauldrons. Weird.

The next few days turned into a blur of finding her way around the castle and exploring a bit. Marianne especially enjoyed the Hogwarts grounds and found a somewhat hidden spot at the Black Lake; you had to walk a bit through the woods to reach it and it was far away enough from the more populated places that Marianne could be sure that nobody heard her playing.   
This quiet spot turned into something of a saving grace for her, as much as she liked her year and house mates sometimes Marianne felt nearly suffocated in the cozy common room and needed some alone time away from everything, she was really not used to having people around her nearly twenty four hours.

That’s when Marianne’s habit of taking her guitar down here started. The younger Abbott child used the time to practice a bit while she replayed classes, holiday stories and gossip in her head. Hufflepuff gossip queens had a habit of sitting in her hearing range when she did her homework in the common room which while sometimes convenient was mostly just annoying but she also didn’t really want to move from the cozy nook right behind the wine barrels.

The curriculum had turned out to be very exciting and thankfully Marianne hadn’t had any problems with the practical part after a few careful tests. Her body had the movements already ingrained in the muscle memory and did it for her once she had set her mind on a spell, though she was sure that she would have to learn new spells just like all the other students. To be absolutely sure about her abilities Marianne tried to get in as much spell casting as possible in abandoned classrooms after lessons had ended, it left her often exhausted but the results spoke for themselves, she had already brought in some points for her house.

XXXXXXX

It was on a day lake many before when Marianne sought out her hidings spot to enjoy a bit time on her own, calm herself down from the rather uncomfortable encounter with two Slytherins and get in some guitar practice. Only this time she was surprised by the most unlikely Gryffindor.

Marianne jerked and squeaked when Sirius Black suddenly sat down beside her, she hadn’t heard anybody walking through the woods and that it was Sirius Black from all the students in Hogwarts surprised her even more. The blonde witch had been concentrating solely on her guitar play, secure in the knowledge that next to no one knew about this place and even then would probably leave her alone.

Marianne had just ended with her grip practice and had started to play a few random songs that always had a rather calming effect on her when Sirius gracelessly sprawled out beside her.

Taking in his relaxed form Marianne couldn’t decide if she should swoon and blush or be wary of him. Damn this body’s feelings and hormones, of course her counterpart had to have a crush the size of the Grand Canyon on Hogwarts’ resident play boy. But oh well Marianne could deny that Sirius had the bad boy image down to perfection. Especially now that he had run away from his home and lived with the Potters, the rumor mill had been running since the beginning of the term and many speculated what had been the catalyst.

“Hey.” said Sirius charmingly as he leaned back in the warm grass.

His well developed upper body was propped up on his elbows just so that her eyes were drawn to the flexing muscles, as soon as she caught herself Marianne ripped her eyes away and inwardly called herself to order, undressing him with her eyes was rude!

“…Hi…” Marianne whispered shyly back while she stared down on her guitar, she could practically feel how the blood rushed into her cheeks.

Merlin be damned, she was twenty four years old, she shouldn’t be acting like a swooning teenager… even if she was stuck in the body of one now… damn it, why oh why did she always have to be so awkward with men? And who had thought it was a good idea to put her into a body with raging hormones? Why, why, why?

“Can you continue playing? I liked the last piece. I’m Sirius Black by the way.” the dark haired boy said calmly while he sent her a lazy smile, he was clearly trying to ease her tension.

“Oh, eh yeah, uhhm… I’m Marianne Abbott… that song is called Lullaby for a stormy night.” inside Marianne kicked herself while she stumbled over her words.

“Does it have a lyric?” the now curious wizard asked while he fixated the blonde in front of him.

Marianne played nervously with the hem of her cardigan before she answered, “Uhm yes, but I’m not that good at singing.”

“Oh come on you can’t be that bad! I won’t laugh.” The Black said while he smiled irresistibly up at her.

‘Oh god you have NO idea how wrong you are.’ Marianne grumbled to herself, but she couldn’t say no to this charming smile, even if it meant that she was going to utterly embarrass herself.

 _song by Vienna Teng_  
  
little child, be not afraid  
though rain pounds harshly against the glass  
like an unwanted stranger, there is no danger  
I am here tonight  
  
little child, be not afraid  
though thunder explodes and lightning flash  
illuminates your tear-stained face  
I am here tonight  
  
and someday you'll know  
that nature is so  
the same rain that draws you near me  
falls on rivers and land  
on forests and sand  
makes the beautiful world that you'll see  
in the morning  
  
little child, be not afraid  
though storm clouds mask your beloved moon  
and its candlelight beams, still keep pleasant dreams  
I am here tonight  
  
little child, be not afraid  
though wind makes creatures of our trees  
and their branches to hands, they're not real, understand  
and I am here tonight  
  
for you know, once even I was a  
little child, and I was afraid  
but a gentle someone always came  
to dry all my tears, trade sweet sleep for fears  
and to give a kiss goodnight  
  
well now I am grown  
and these years have shown  
that rain's a part of how life goes  
but it's dark and it's late  
so I'll hold you and wait  
'til your frightened eyes do close  
  
and I hope that you'll know...  
  
everything's fine in the morning  
the rain'll be gone in the morning  
but I'll still be here in the morning

when she had ended Marianne stunned put down her guitar, she couldn’t believe it! Her old body hadn’t been able to carry a tune! This one though could definitely sing… and that pretty well if she could trust her ears. Cautiously she glanced at Sirius who was lying beside her.

Liquid dark silver eyes held her grey blue ones captive the moment she looked up, Marianne felt like a rabbit trapped in a hunter’s hold.

Sirius’ eyebrow rose a bit before he snorted “Can’t sing my ass, you’re really good!”

Blushing at the compliment and the way Sirius leered at her body Marianne looked away in mortification. That couldn’t be happening! This was a sixteen year old boy and not a man beside her and she felt like swooning and squealing… Okay, so he was more man than boy already, but still.

The blonde Hufflepuff decided to answer truthfully “Thank you, but I’m really not that good, and normally I never sing.”

Sirius seemed to not share her opinion because he kept convincing and flattering her until she continued to play for the rest of the time until shortly before curfew. The Black had after she finally took up her instrument again laid back and listened with closed eyes while he relaxed into the cool grass around them and enjoyed her performance. Dare Marianne say that Sirius had looked peaceful?

After a slightly uncomfortable goodbye on her side Marianne practically ran into the Hufflepuff dormitories, Merlin and Morgana now that had been embarrassing, Black was surely laughing about her awkwardness.

**Sirius Interlude**

While sitting in the Gryffindor common room Sirius thought back on this strange afternoon. He was confused, how had that little Hufflepuff girl managed to intrigue him so much that he had changed his plans? Normally when he was set on a girl becoming his next conquest normally nothing could dissuade him from his goal, but that little slip of a girl had somehow done it and made herself interesting.

That warm Friday afternoon had been ideal to make a move on the little Abbott, he had found her name alone on a part of the Black Lake he never had explored before and had seen his chances to get in a few kisses maybe even a good grope before taking her to bed somewhere in the castle, you could say what you wanted about Sirius but he wasn’t that big an asshole that he took a girl’s virginity where someone could easily find them.

But then the music that waved from her spot at the Black Lake had somehow derailed him. Her playing on the guitar made her suddenly a lot more interesting than his other dates. So he took a step back and just observed her for a moment.   
She was kind of cute in a shy and girl next door way. Not his normal type, most of the time he went for the stunning, thin and well endowed girls that also often were very outgoing and knew exactly what was his goal but now and then he also plucked a wall flower or two.  
But the longer he watched the surer he became that this girl was somewhat different, she had something that he couldn’t quite put into words.

She had squeaked when he had approached her, that was kind of funny and she also turned beet red when he had sat down. Sirius grinned to himself while his eyes lazily wandered through the Common Room, that had been quite the ego boost, he of course knew how good looking he was but having it confirmed in such an enticing way? The silver eyed wizard hummed contently while his head sacked against the back of the couch. His thoughts wandered back to the shy blonde girl. She had clearly low self esteem and was clearly unused to male attention and so damn trusting. At that Sirius made a grimace, the little Hufflepuff should quickly learn how to say no or she would land in a bad situation one day; it had been so easy to convince her to sing even though she was clearly uncomfortable about it. Although in retrospect he didn’t understand why, she had a soothing voice, very clear; listening to her had been enjoyable, Sirius honestly couldn’t tell when the last time was that he had felt this relaxed.

Funnily enough, now that he had talked to her and had time to observe her a bit more, her voice and her hands were the most attractive features to him. Her hands were just so small and dainty; Sirius was kind of curious how they would feel when they were buried in his hair or when they glided down his skin. Before his encounter with Abbott the eldest Black son had been mainly attracted to her, for her age generous breasts and hips, he had always liked it when he could hold onto something during sex and so the younger girl had fallen right into his prey pattern.

“Oi Padfoot!” Sirius looked up as James interrupted his musings with a quick yell across the common room.

With a small sigh he stood up and made his way over to his friends, lazily he sat down between Remus and James; between them on the floor was their newest prank plan.

Still somewhat occupied by the blonde witch Sirius spontaneously decided that Marianne Abbott was too interesting for the time being to just serve as a relief for his sexual frustration. The little blonde didn’t know it yet but she would see a lot more of him in the near future and when she finally became boring he would take her to bed to get these curves and hands out of his system.


	6. Chapter 6

The following weekend after taking care of her homework and studies Marianne sat on both days at the Black Lake and played on her guitar. Though she was never alone for long the black haired Gryffindor seemed to always know exactly when she finally came out of her common room. On the second day it dawned her that he probably was watching the Marauder’s map and then joined her. Sirius Black was a surprising easy companion, he listened quietly and rarely moved around or said anything, and Marianne didn’t feel disturbed in her chosen solitude.   
It was quite untypical for the outgoing Marauder as far as the blonde girl was aware but Marianne tried not to read too much into his actions and just enjoyed their encounters. Their meetings had a strangely soothing quality on both of them.

To compensate for his silence Marianne sometimes babbled between her songs, be it about the reason why she was playing at this place or about her subjects and the professors, though that happened only when she was feeling agitated.   
At their last meeting Marianne vented some of her frustration and genuine distress about how Slughorn treated her overly familiar, yes the man was a brilliant Potioneer and good instructor but she really didn’t like how he treated her.

As a result the good professor had found himself pranked at the breakfast table on Monday morning after Sirius’ and Marianne’s meeting. The blonde witch couldn’t stop the smile that had fixated itself on her face for the rest of the day. She had also taken note of the self satisfied look that the oldest Black son wore when he quickly met her eyes during breakfast.

But on said Monday their luck with the weather also abruptly disappeared, with the beginning of the new week it started raining cats and dogs and the temperature dropped so rapidly that soon teacher and students were wearing their winter robes, scarves and gloves.

Autumn had finally arrived at Hogwarts.

**Sirius Interlude**

Sirius didn’t show it openly or at least he thought he didn’t but he was sulking, the bad weather had taken away all opportunities to listen to his Hufflepuff girl play at the Black Lake. Surprisingly he had quite enjoyed those relaxing hours when she had played for him; even her babblings between the songs hadn’t taken away from his relaxed state. Quite to contrary Sirius had to admit ruefully, he had felt amused and even somewhat charmed by her awkward ramblings. Well until she had decided to tell him that Slughorn made her uncomfortable, now that had a quite irrational feeling of anger and protectiveness and so he had convinced his fellow Marauder’s to use the Professor as their next prank victim. After all who was he to deny her this kind of back handed revenge?

Of course he hadn’t breathed a word about the fact that he was doing this for a girl, a Hufflepuff at that, he would never hear the end of it if he had.

But back to his foul mood, his obvious state of unhappiness had taken on a stage in which everybody could clearly see it even if Sirius continued to delude himself about the proficiency of his poker face.   
Most of his fellow Gryffindors attributed it to the weather change but a few exceptions like James and Remus knew better and watched their friend with concern. They were aware that bad weather normally didn’t provoke such a drastic mood change in him but continued to refrain themselves from approaching Sirius, they knew better then to disturb him when he was brooding like this. The Black could get quite nasty if you caught him at a wrong time, it was better to wait until he had found a solution to whatever problem he was facing.   
Unfortunately his bad mood held on and got steadily worse instead of disappearing, his contributions to pranks got down right vicious until a few days later when he saw Marianne again. She was playing her guitar in one of the abandoned classrooms near the library when Sirius passed it.

The Black instantly recognized her music and quickly gave his friends the slip to keep her company until lunch instead of checking some facts for their next prank.

The following day when he revisited the classroom in hopes of seeing her again, he found the room pelted with chalk and other small objects. It seemed as if Peeves had found Marianne’s hiding place. Frustrated and swearing vengeance against the poltergeist Sirius left again in direction of the Gryffindor common room to get the Marauder’s Map and check a few things, an idea was slowly coming to live in his mind.

When Wednesday of the following week came around the Black finally had found a solution. Determined to keep the intriguing Hufflepuff close, Sirius started to search for a permanent room in which they could meet up. After running around the whole day like a madman, he finally found what he was looking for shortly before dinner.

On the second floor, halfway between both Gryffindor and Hufflepuff dormitories was a deserted hallway with empty classrooms. One of those classrooms had adjourning private quarters. Sirius knew he had hit the jackpot with the private quarters, the rooms were close to both common rooms and slightly out of the way of the normal traffic of Hogwarts, furthermore the living quarters were protected through an empty and dusty classroom, anybody who stumbled inside by accident would be distracted by the clearly dusty classroom. After another glance around Sirius nodded satisfied to himself, with a few well placed privacy charms nobody would give the closed door beside the blackboard a second glance without precisely knowing what was behind it.

The private quarters consisted of a sitting room; a bathroom and two other rooms, both had windows to the Black Lake. With a few quick household charms from the arsenal that his dear mother had drilled into his head since he could walk, Sirius had removed the dust and stood now inside the cleaned up lounge, unsure how to proceed. With a careless shrug of his shoulders Sirius made his way back to the Gryffindor common room, he would show the rooms to Marianne tomorrow and then decide what to do with them. Being slightly obvious at the worst possible times Sirius didn’t pick up on the fact that this could be easily perceived as him creating a love nest for his girlfriend.

On the next day the black haired Gryffindor impatiently waited until classes were over dropped his bag in his bed and grabbed the Marauders map. A quick glance on the half finished magical item showed Marianne sitting in the Great Hall. Having found his target Sirius waited more or less patiently until she had finished her lunch and the moment she was alone he dragged her into a side corridor. Said Hufflepuff had been on her way to the library when she had been more or less kidnapped by the older boy. With only a quick ‘Hi’ Sirius led her away from the more populated corridors of Hogwarts and into the second floor where he opened the door to the empty quarters.

**Marianne Interlude**

Catching her breath Marianne finally found air to speak, her head still spun from the surprise attack the Gryffindor had sprung on her. She did not even have time to ask questions about where they were going until they had arrived in what looked like a recently cleaned but empty room. Wide eyed and slightly confused she turned to a beaming Sirius who watched her take her surroundings in.

“Do you like it? You can play here as much as you want, and don’t have to fear about disrupting anything, plus I can listen to you again without putting the Hufflepuff common room into a panic.” the last part was said decidedly smug while he watched her face.

Ugh yeah she could remember that incident when a besotted fellow Puff had invited the Marauders and how even weeks after the visit pranks had been triggered by unsuspecting students. Marianne couldn’t stop the eye roll and light twitching of her lips while she inspected the room a bit closer. It must have been a former teaching quarter because she saw the doors leading to a bathroom and two other rooms. Sirius had really put some thought into this, now really smiling she turned to the Marauder.

“It’s amazing Sirius, thank you!” Marianne said happily and secretly quite amused as she saw how Sirius preened at her words.

He was acting like an overgrown puppy! But she really was thankful for his consideration; it had been getting tedious to find a place where she could play without distractions. Peeves had begun to make it a game to find her and pelt her with chalk until she left in a hurry.

“The only problem is the furniture, of course we could transfigure something but that wouldn’t hold long enough or even be comfortable…” the Marauder said slightly frustrated.

Making a split second decision Marianne giggled and said, “I know where we can find furniture.”

She took his hand and led him up to the seventh floor to the Room of Requirement; it was one of the first places she had sought out after arriving at the castle and getting acquainted with the placement of her classrooms.

**Sirius Interlude**

Sirius was kind of baffled as he watched the younger girl walk up and down the corridor seemingly concentrating on something. Then suddenly a door materialized in front of her, her eyes lit up and she dragged him in.   
Marianne seemed so shy most of the time but the way she had taken his hand and led him to this place had been downright bold for her. He grinned slightly; she was getting more and more interesting with each encounter. His thoughts vanished when he followed the blonde Hufflepuff into the hidden room.

Behind the door lay the most amazing room he had ever seen. Tables, couches, mirrors, tableware, cloths, everything that normally furnished a house had been stacked in giant piles, with small narrow walks between them. For the first time in a very long time Sirius was completely speechless as he followed the blonde girl into this surreal room.

Why didn’t the Marauders know about this?

“I… what, what is this room???” he stammered while he looked up to stare at the piles that nearly reached the ceiling.

Marianne had a slight smile on her face “This… is the room of requirement, or the come and go room as the houseelves call it. You walk three times before the hidden door and think about what you want and the room appears like you have imagined it. At the moment everything that was lost in Hogwarts is in this room. Astonishing isn’t it?” and with that Marianne made her way to the first pile of couches and asked Sirius “See anything you like?”

Sirius just shook his head and started to laugh before he said “THIS, is bloody amazing!!!” and then looked at the different couches critically “Hhm, I would say the black leather couch looks comfortable, what do you think?”

The blonde Hufflepuff just nodded and sent a shrinking charm at the piece before pocketing it into her book bag. Grinning Sirius took her by the hand and led her to the next pile, where they selected two beautiful black and comfortable looking armchairs that would match the sofa. Those were followed by an antic glass coffee table with lion feet, a red fluffy carpet, yellow checkered giant blankets, a few silver candleholders as well as some cabinets and bookshelves just for the hell of it.

Sirius was having a lot of fun while deciding how to furnish their hideaway; this had led to him discovering that Marianne had quite the playful side after she got over her shyness. Glancing down at her he had to suppress a grin, she too looked like she enjoyed herself.   
On his insistence they also got a giant double bed for the bedroom, funnily enough Sirius really had only thought practical this time instead of with his libido. The Marauder had been thinking about the nights that he sometimes had to sleep outside of the common room because the teacher patrol had been increased and he couldn’t enter the common room without being caught.

Feeling chivalrous he let Marianne decide how to furnish the last room. He was surprised when she started to pick up outdated but still functional cauldrons and potion laboratory furnishing.

“What are you going to do with this stuff?” he asked her curious.

“Well… I always liked to experiment but I really don’t want to ask Slughorn for additional lab time. He always makes such a big fuss about my talent in Potions… and well… the labs are in the Dungeons which is Slytherin territory, really don’t want to be caught down there alone.”

Inwardly she added ‘And being one of Slughorn’s favorites won’t help me one bit if a Slytherin decides to attack or ‘play’ with me.’


	7. Chapter 7

In the following weeks the quarters were filled with even more cupboards as well as a desk and chair on the left wall of the sitting room. After realizing how much better she could concentrate in the converted private quarters, Marianne had moved all her potion notes and other extracurricular records to the den, as she had started to call the quarters fondly. Sirius had come up with the name and Marianne thought that it was a pretty good fit. When Marianne needed time for herself she would hide out there. The time she spent in the den drastically increased during the following weeks because as much as she loved her fellow Hufflepuffs, the common room was not a good place to complete homework, also the library and the Great Hall weren’t as secure as the teachers liked to believe. Since the current political climate had led to something like a Cold War at Hogwarts things had gotten rather tense. Marianne had already been the victim of a misdirected curse that had given her painful blisters on her arm and during another time her nearly completed homework had been destroyed by a stray spell.

Quite often she was joined by Sirius who appeared about two to three times a week as far as she could tell,most of the time Sirius came to their place when he needed space to calm down or to simply vent his frustrations. If there was one thing Marianne had learned in the last weeks it was that Sirius Black was unbelievably hot-tempered and that he normally alleviated his blood pressure with playing pranks or simply hexing bullies and unsurprisingly his favorite target was Severus Snape. But due to the increased presence of the teachers in the halls the Black hadn’t had enough opportunities to get rid of his pent up emotions. Marianne had seen Sirius more than once cursing up a storm inside the now heavily warded bedroom or watched him pace agitatedly in the sitting room. Strangely enough the normally so skittish Hufflepuff wasn’t as uncomfortable as she thought she would be, even with his horrible temper she still felt safe with Sirius and while she kept an extra eye out for particular explosive moods she trusted him with her safety.

But back to the Slytherins, to be more exact a certain greasy haired one. Severus Tobias Snape was the most unpleasant student in Hogwarts.

FULLSTOP.

Marianne had known this of course from the memories of her witch side but she was still shocked about how nasty the sixth year Slytherin truly was. When Snape was in a bad mood, which to be honest was more often than not, he particularly enjoyed terrorizing the younger years of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Some of his favorite past times were bringing them to tears in less than a minute or hexing them so that they had to spend the rest of the day in the infirmary. The rivalry and hate between him and the Marauders was legendary throughout Hogwarts and far far worse than Joanne K. Rowling had ever described it in her books. In said books the Marauders were described as overconfident and bored bullies that didn’t know when to stop. Yes they were overconfident and more often bored than not; yes they bullied some of the Slytherins and a few Ravenclaws but not completely without cause.

Rowling often described Severus Snape as the poor ugly duckling that was teased and beaten by the big bad swans and so forced to the dark side but that wasn’t the truth. Rowling had just picked one or two occasions as examples where the Gryffindors had really overdone it but in reality Snape gave as good as he got and lashed out at everything that moved with the exception of his own house, the teachers and Lily Evans. He was a cruel, dreadful person and Marianne was absolutely horrified at the idea that somebody like him would be teaching future generations of potion makers. During his time as Hogwarts Professor he had probably ruined a good number of promising students with his demeanor. Those children had probably simply decided that a potion career wasn’t worth suffering through more years than absolutely necessary under Snape’s tutelage.

Another clashing point between Snape and the Marauders besides the obvious ones about blood status was Lily Evans. Beautiful, kind, hot tempered and very, very muggleborn Lily Evans who still was friends with Snape and this friendship drove James Potter completely bonkers. Well at least that was what Sirius said while he complained fondly about his best friend. It seemed as if until now Snape had been able to hide his nasty side when he was in the company of the red haired Gryffindor beauty and so made James look even more spoiled than he truly was. Because let’s face it James Charlus Potter was the only child of his parents and had arrived very late in their lives. So of course they had been spoilt rotten in his younger years, which unfortunately now hampered his chances with a certain green eyed beauty.

Marianne was fascinated by the stories Sirius told her and the Gryffindor loved to talk and so vent his frustrations. As a result the blonde Hufflepuff had learned in the two months more about the intricate relationships between the Marauders and some of the other Gryffindors than she had pieced together in the last four years or learned through the books.

The blonde Abbott also finally had collected and ordered enough potion ingredients to start experimenting in her private potion lab. It reminded her of the muggle experiments they had done in chemistry which she had always found exciting. At first she kept to the easier things, like getting rid of the horrid taste of some of the basic healing potions. This required simply more ingredients than normally were used in a standard pepper up or headache potion. This was also the reason why the cheaper versions were written down in the potion texts and not the more tasty ones. But after a while Marianne finally changed her focus to her witch sides’ true passion, poisons and their antidotes.

Marianne had a good dozen of the most lethal potions in the Wizarding world memorized in her head. Said poisons could be made out of some relative basic and easy accessible ingredients. She had always been fascinated by the thought of how such relatively harmless parts could be turned into a lethal weapon with a bit of skill and knowledge. And this passion and fascination had carried over into this new Marianne. The slight confidence boost that she had gained from the older muggle Marianne made her experiment with more and more difficult potions and poisons as the weeks progressed. To counterattack some of the adverse effects of handling dangerous ingredients she started to take small doses of certain poisons to build up immunity against them.

About two weeks after starting to work in her lab Marianne had her first real fight with Sirius. She had come late and annoyed into Den because Flitwick had given them an extended lecture about the importance of charm rules after a particular botched up charm had landed two students in the infirmary. Tired from the day she just wanted to sit down and relax a bit when she caught sight of Sirius smelling on one of her experimental potions in her lab. She nearly had a heart attack and screamed at him to put it down. Marianne let her things drop and ran into the laboratory to snatch the poison out of his hand and re-corked it as fast as possible before she grabbed her box with antidotes and pelted Sirius with questions to find out from which bottles he had smelled. The Gryffindor had thankfully only opened the one she had caught him with and so she only had to force down the readymade antidote without having to drag him down to Pomfrey for a checkup that would have led to some uncomfortable questions for both of them.  
After the first shock disappeared Marianne let herself fall into the black leather sofa before anger slowly built in her gut, how unbelievable stupid was Sirius? And with that in mind she started a tirade about smelling on unknown potions and proper handling of brews, which of course made Sirius very defensive and angry as well

“Merlin damn it, I know that you take this whole potions thing seriously but what was so bad about me being there. I only looked for a Pepper-up and that potion had the right color, I just wanted to check if it wasn’t something different.” Sirius nearly shouted.

As an answer Marianne started to hysterically laugh before she cried, “Sirius, you are an idiot. You have really no idea what that was do you? I… oh Merlin, I nearly killed you!!! I’ve been experimenting with some poisons, if I hadn’t caught you smelling it, it could have killed you!” Marianne shouted right back.

She didn’t care that this wasn’t her usual way to handle confrontation, this was SERIOUS, Merlin she had even LABELED the bottle, this stupid Gryffindor should use his eyes!!! It suddenly hit her like a brick wall, her experiments had nearly killed her closest friend! And with that the dam broke and she let out gut wrenching sobs. After her answer Sirius went very pale and quiet before he sat down beside her and hesitantly took her into his arms and hugged her.

“It’s okay, you caught my mistake in time, please stop crying, I… I really can’t take watching you cry, look I’m fine,… I will even stay out of your lab I promise, just, just stop crying!” the last bit was said in a pleading voice.

Sirius was at his wits end while he tried to comfort Marianne, why oh why did girls have to be so emotional?

Marianne slowly calmed down and her sobbing receded until she only hiccupped from time to time and buried even closer into Sirius warm embrace. The idiot was alive and safe, but oh Merlin she had come really close to losing him and that through a stupid mistake! She wouldn’t know what to do if she really lost him! She could finally admit it even if only to herself, Sirius Black was her anchor in this new and strange world, the one that made her laugh and broke through her shyness; she needed him to stay sane. Marianne sniffled again while she felt Sirius grab one of the big yellow blankets and put it around both of them. Now that she finally had calmed down a bit Marianne took in her position. During her crying fit Sirius had pulled her onto his lap and encased her in his warm arms. Her head was lying sideways on his heart while he softly stroked through her hair. She gulped; it felt really good to be that close to the Gryffindor.

The two ended up spending nearly an hour in this position, before Marianne finally moved. Her tear tracks had dried up and while her eyes were still slightly puffy she looked a lot more composed.

“You wanted a Pepper-up, didn’t you? Are you alright?” she asked while she took in his exhausted face and the dark rings under his eyes.

He just answered with a yawn, “Yeah, rough night, spent the whole night awake and I think I have caught a cold.”

Nodding Marianne stood up and made her way into the lab to grab a Pepper up and some cough drops for the next day.

Grateful Sirius swallowed the potion and pocketed the drops before he pulled her back down onto the couch and into a hug while he asked her, “We good?”.

Marianne nodded and returned the hug before mumbling into his shirt, “I will start to stock up the bathroom with Pepper-ups and other useful Potions. Please promise me Sirius that you will check with me before you take something from the lab again.”

The last part was said so imploringly that Sirius couldn’t help the small smile and the reassuring kiss to her forehead, “I will, I promise.”

After that they spent the rest of their time quietly working in each other’s presence. Sirius on his homework, while Marianne finished filling in the gaps of The Tale of Peter the Rabbit and Diary of a Worm and Diary of a Spider. She had enjoyed those books immensely when she had read them with her kids and hoped they would also be popular in the Wizarding world.

Sirius couldn’t help but look up again, to check if Marianne was really fine. This incident had clearly shaken her up, even more so than himself after all he always lived dangerous, be it while spending his time with a werewolf on full moon or playing around with more or less potent pranks. This was also the first time he had had Marianne in his arms, before that there were only fleeting touches and teasing pokes. She had fit well into his arms, her smaller form had felt surprisingly fragile and he had been afraid that he would break her the moment he grasped a little bit harder. Marianne was also soft, Sirius shuddered slightly, he liked the soft part.


	8. Chapter 8

“He is gone again!” came the frustrated yell from James while he let himself fall onto the couch beside Remus.

Said werewolf glanced up from his book and just smirked slightly. Oh the blonde Gryffindor had a pretty good idea what Padfoot was doing even if he didn’t know where. The Quidditch captain of across from him noticed the tiny smirk on his face and became instantly suspicious.

“You know something!” he accused the fellow Gryffindor.

A noncommittal hum just made the Potter heir even more suspicious.

“Out with it, seriously, I’m getting concerned Padfoot normally never vanishes this often!” James said with a petulant pout.

This time Remus was openly grinned at the bespectacled boy before he singsonged, “It’s a girl.”

“Girl,… it can’t be a girl,… that’s typical Padfoot behavior, he loves them and then leaves them, end of story.” James pouted.

Shaking his head Remus put his homework away and turned to James, “I thought so too but that doesn’t change the fact that under the ever changing escapades of our fellow Marauder is one smell that hasn’t changed since the start of this year.”

James nearly choked on his Butterbeer as he sent Remus and disbelieving look, “You’re joking!”.

Said werewolf just rolled his eyes, “I can smell her on him,… and the funny thing is he hasn’t even slept with her yet.” the last part was said a decidedly mischievous tone.

As a response James jaw dropped and he just stared at Remus for a while until he shut his mouth and looked pensively at the wall of the Gryffindor common room. He then suddenly stood up and grinned at his fellow Marauder with a familiar look on his face that told everybody who caught a glimpse of it that somebody was going to get pranked.

“That I have to see. Starting tomorrow we are on Mission: find Padfoot’s secret girl!” James announced dramatically while Remus just sighed, oh boy James wouldn’t let this go until they had found out everything there was to know about Miss Mysterious. Still the werewolf refrained from trying to stop his friend, he knew better than to try to talk James out of it, the wizard was more stubborn than a hippogriff.

“Are we telling Wormtail?” he asked the stag animagus instead.

The bespectacled wizard tilted his head and thought about it for a second before he dismissively waved his had, “Na he still has detention tomorrow and until we know exactly what is going on we will keep our mouths shut. And Wormtail is just horrible at that, so no.”

Remus nodded at James explanation, it was true after all, before he turned back to his book while he contemplated if he should pity Sirius and that mysterious girl of his. Oh well Padfoot should have known better than to try to hide something like that from James and him. His secretive behavior was like a red cloth to both James and him; the Black was really asking to be pranked.

XXXXXX

Marianne sat relaxed on the couch of the den; her feet were folded loosely underneath her in a very unladylike tailor seat while one of the yellow throw blankets was covering them for modesty’s sake as well as to ward of the cold. In her lap was a piece of parchment halfway unfolded and her quill hovered slightly over the three quarter full roll. In the last few days Marianne had started to write down some of the short stories that had kept eluding her until recently. She had amassed a pretty decent collection until now and was contemplating how to fit said stories into the book that she wanted to publish.   
She was so engrossed in her work that when the blonde witch heard the door opening she didn’t look up, after all there could only be one person coming through that door. For a moment there was nothing but silence until she heard Sirius clear his throat and so Marianne turned her head to look confused in his direction, normally when he saw that she was engrossed into something the Gryffindor was surprisingly patient and just sat down somewhere close to do something else until she put her things aside, he was considerate like that. For him to interrupt her something had to have happened.  
The blonde Abbott’s eyes landed on the door area and when she realized who was standing before her she nearly dropped her writing paraphernalia. Sirius wasn’t alone, behind him stood two curious looking Marauders who scanned her and the room in which she sat.

Sirius walked closer to the couch, he had a somewhat annoyed air around him, with a sigh he drawled half sarcastic, “Marianne, it looks like we have been found out. I want to introduce you to my closest friends.” He than did a dramatic hand wave in direction of James and continued, “This fellow pranking schemer and Gryffindor is the infamous James Potter also otherwise known as Mr. Prongs, a sedulous Quidditch fiend and defeater of evil Slytherins.”

Said Potter did a dramatic bow and sent an exaggerated wink at Marianne. Said Hufflepuff giggled shyly while she stared at both elder boys that had slowly come closer.

Sirius apparently took this as permission to continue because he sighed dramatically and pointed at the calmest of the three males, “And this rather handsome fellow is the knowledgeable Remus Lupin. Your fellow everyday bibliophile, secret brains of our notorious group and breaker of sweet Ravenclaw hearts, who also goes by Mr. Moony!”, finished Sirius his introduction.

Marianne’s smile only increased, she had always rather enjoyed Sirius dramatic antics. The younger Abbott was ripped out of her musings when the blonde werewolf started to complain.

“PADFOOT!” Remus scolded, “I certainly do not break Ravenclaw hearts!”

“Oh yeah? And what about Melinda Whiterby? She was in tears when you declined her Hogsmeade invitation.” came the question from a grinning James that seemed to find the whole encounter hilarious.

“Anyway!” the eldest Black son changed the topic, with two wide steps Sirius was suddenly behind the couch and hugged Marianne loosely, his arms settled comfortably around her waist before he continued, “Prongs, Moony, THIS is Marianne Abbott, the reason why I sometimes disappear.”

James raised an eyebrow and incredulous mouthed ‘sometimes’ in Remus direction. The blonde Gryffindor lips twitched sardonically before he looked back at Sirius with a rather deadpan expression on his face.

Marianne’s face in the mean time had taken on a rather beet red color and she was now gently trying to unwind Sirius arms from her body. After some carefully tugging she eventually succeeded before put her writing utensils aside and shyly waved at the two older boys in front of her. She couldn’t even look them into the eyes let alone talk to them, why the hell did Sirius have to hug her? Her teenage hormones were going crazy and it made her useless for any conversation!!!

Both unfamiliar Gryffindors watched her carefully for a time before they settled on both sides of the other to Hogwarts students and started a conversation with Sirius. After the first few awkward moments Sirius and James took it onto themselves to include her in the conversation and make Marianne feel comfortable while Remus kept watching her curiously. Relaxing a bit the blonde witch let herself be talked into playing and singing a bit for the three older boys, it seemed that it didn’t only have a soothing effect on Sirius but also on the other two Marauders.   
Throughout the whole time the other two wizards were in reaching distance Sirius had taken to touch her in one way or the other as if he was staking claim on Marianne in a rather primal way. The blonde witch was confused for some time but then dismissed his behavior as a canine instinct, Padfoot was probably considering her his in some way and didn’t like the fact that two other males were in her presence. Secretly Marianne rather enjoyed this possessive behavior even if it didn’t mean anything.

To be honest Marianne had expected the teasing to become out of hand the moment two other Marauders joined Sirius and her but somehow the Black seemed to always find a way to divert his friend’s attention into a different direction, because let’s be honest Remus was too kind to tease her.  
After a while she began a conversation with Remus about Potions while the two other boys were engaged in their newest prank idea. The four spent nearly three hours like that and when James and Remus left Marianne felt relaxed and was pretty positive that their future encounters would not end in disasters.

XXXXXX

When James and Remus left some hours later both of his fellow Gryffindors sent Sirius promising looks, said Marauder was well aware that he was in for a lot of ribbing and questioning in the evening but honestly he didn’t mind as much as he would have a year ago. Hell even four months ago he would have never even dreamed about taking crap because of a girl like James did all the time because of Lily. Though this situation with Marianne was kind of different then the one sided love affair between James and Evans.

That night lying in his red poster bed Sirius grinned like a loon while he let himself relive the conversation the three Gryffindors had had that evening. Both Prongs and Moony approved of his little Hufflepuff and had told him so when they had intercepted him outside the common room. Though Remus had cautioned him about hurting the so a fragile looking Hufflepuff, the Lupin always had had problems with Sirius’ womanizing and he had genuinely enjoyed talking to Marianne that afternoon. Sirius had just shrugged his shoulders and told his two best friends truthfully that he had intended to relieve some stress with her until she had turned out to be a lot more interesting than he had thought. Remus had openly scolded at that while James just nodded without saying anything.

“Well as I said, I planned to…, but she is … different, a complete other type then the girls I normally hang out with,… she is interesting,… and honestly I think Padfoot is coming through a bit more stronlgy than he should,… I fell… possessive, protective,… hell I don’t even want you two that close to her.” Sirius tried to explain while he stared out of the window of the hidden room close to the tower.

Remus gaped disbelieving at the self proclaimed ladies man in front of him while James snorted and then started to laugh, “Oh, oh, THIS is gold. You feel protective over her? What happens if she starts to date someone?”

The growl that escaped Sirius surprised all three wizards.

Now Remus also started to laugh softly before saying, “Serves you right, maybe that will give you a taste of what all the male relatives and friends of the girls you have been sleeping with go through.”

Sirius face was torn between outrage and pouting while his friends made fun of him.

James stopped chuckling and then smiled brightly at his best friend, with a quick move he was beside the Black and drew him into a manly hug before saying, “Don’t worry, your little Hufflepuff is going to be fine, we too will keep an eye on her. I can understand why Padfoot is going crazy, she had this little innocent sister vibe all over her.”

Remus just nodded in agreement while he thought back at the blonde witch that had surprisingly been able to keep up with him in their conversation about Potions, it had felt like talking to Lily. Comfortable and mentally stimulating and Remus had even played with the thought about dating someone like her for half a second until the wolf inside him had smelled the scent of his pack mate all over her as a result Remus had instantly dismissed the petite Hufflepuff as potential mate. The Lupin had found that part of his werewolf physiology partly annoying and partly reassuring. The moment one of their pack mates had claimed a person in a certain way they lost all sexual interested concerning him or her and no matter what said person would do, the werewolf wouldn’t encroach on the territory of one of his pack mates, they were too loyal for that.

Sirius on the other hand looked confused at the two Marauders in front of him, he certainly didn’t see Marianne as a younger sibling that would be… strange, she was something… different but certainly not a little sister.

“Right, as long as you keep your hands to yourself… Anyway I know this is weird but could you stay away from the room when I’m not with you, I mean…” Sirius looked helplessly at his friends, he had no idea how to describe his need for them to stay away from the den.

Remus looked all to knowingly at Sirius and snorted before nodding, James’ eyes showed some hurt but he too agreed to Sirius request.

“Your instincts are really going haywire but oh well. Do you want to tell Peter?” Remus asked amused.

The Black pondered said question for a moment before he slowly shook his head, “I like Peter but,…”

“He can’t shut his mouth.” Remus clarified.

“Yeah and I really don’t want to expose Marianne to my ex flings or the Slytherins, she HATES conflict.” Sirius said relieved that his friends understood, he like Peter, he really did but he wouldn’t let Marianne get hurt just because his friend had a loose mouth.

After that the three Marauders had made their way to the Gryffindor common room and joined Peter at the fire, said rat animagus was visibly exhausted from his detention and only gave them a weak wave.

And now Sirius was lying in his bed and contemplated the day, he hadn’t expected to introduce Remus and James to Marianne, at least not yet but oh well he should have known that he couldn’t hide anything from those two. Peter was easy; everybody could fool him but hide something from those two? Tze, he really should have known better the Black thought with a sardonic smile on his lips.   
The sneaky bastards had followed him after lunch with James invisible cloak and confronted him a corridor away from the Den.

At least he could use the introduction between his fellow Marauders and Marianne to his advantage, Sirius had cleverly used her being caught off guard to put his arms around her. Since the poison incident the Black hadn’t been able to keep his hands off that cute little Hufflepuff. He had loved feeling her in his arms and from then on he had changed his type of girl a bit he was now going after the smaller girls that weren’t completely stick thin, Sirius also had been noticing the blonde girls around him a lot more since meeting Marianne.   
During the introduction to James and Remus he had finally gotten a good grope in without being to suspicious and Merlin was it worth it. Marianne had been so soft and her hair and neck had really smelled good, whatever shampoo she was wearing, it made Padfoot howl in approval. The only drawback was that while holding her he had trouble resisting the urge to bury his head in her neck and hair.   
Sirius was also satisfied with the way Marianne had reacted when confronted with his friends, at first she had been shy and nearly mute but the nervousness vanished after some coaxing and she had played her first song and after that everything had gone smoothly.


End file.
